Diy Lighting On Premade Hood.

[dredgy]

Okay so my tank is prebuilt, Blue Planet - so made-for plastic hood and included light. The light is a piffling 13W LED tube which is just pathetic for plant growth (the tank does get sunlight as well though).
 
What I would ideally like to have is 2x Lights (LED or Fluoro, don't care though I'd lean towards fluoro due to ease and cost to replace) producing somewhere between 40-60W, and one blue bulb as well (as a moonlight to run for an hour or two after the main lights are extinguished)
 
The hood has fittings for two rows of the LED tube, as seen in the picture:
 

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There is also no "socket" for power, so I can't just put a fluoro bulb right in, as a chord runs from the bulb to the switch box.
 

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Aesthetics are important to me (one of the most important parts of the tank) so there can be no messy wires etc, and I should be able to use the same switchbox lid:
 

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I'd like at least 2 independent switches - one for the whites and one for the blues.
 
What would be the best way to set up lighting for the tank? Will there be anything prebuilt that I can just fit in or will I need to do a bit of handiwork? And what equipment would I need?
 
The lid dimensions btw are 97cm x 24cm.

 

[ech0o]

I recently bought a t5 fixture for one of our tanks, and I am going to say, I am far from pleased with the look of flouro over LED.   That being said, if that LED bar is really 13w, that would make each bulb a 1w bulb, which is extremely bright for a cheap LED, and I would say you just need to dial in the bulb color and get a second fixture like the first to fill that second space.    I would not try to install a fluorescent ballast and sockets into that hood, that seems like WAY more trouble than its worth, and it will be hard to get enough tubes of t5 in there for you to get the light you are looking for.

 

[dredgy]

I, at the very least, need higher wattage than 26W for plant growth. I'm not really under the impression that they're cheap LEDs, they just came with the tank.

I am happy to have an LED solution as well, it just needs to be high wattage. The option of a moonlight is preferable too.

Thank you

 

[iapple5678]

I don't see a way to modify that hood with that much wattage given its low profile. Also apparent lack of a condensation tray is an issue for anything DIY. I would not run any additions on that hood without a condensation tray (ie: lid between blubs and water).  Your best bet would be to buy a single or dual T5 fixture and replace it if aesthetics are an issue.
 
Those are low output LEDs, which does make them cheap in comparison to any kinda LEDs you would need to rewire/replace them.

 

[dredgy]

I can't see why it would be that difficult? Condensation is an issue but can be worked around . 
Budget isn't a constraint if that helps.
 
I don't want to replace the hood/lid (I don't think the hood comes off) unless absolutely necessary as I like the way the tank looks at the moment. I can reinforce it though, if I was to mount a fixture under the lid, I'm just not sure how to go about doing that. I know full well it is possible, I just need a way to implement it. I can perform lots of modifications - just so long as it is not visibly noticeable. 

 

[iapple5678]

yeah thats the problem. Making it not noticable, high enough wattage, and safe given that small space. How do plan to mount a tube to that plastic without drilling through it? the proper high output LEDs would possibly work but it will require learning on your part to customize and wire the LEDs. They need a good heat sink for each LED, cuz unlike small LEDs the big ones get very hot. Mounting a heatsink to plastic isn't ideal IMO either, may lead to some discoloration over the years.